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Troubleshooting: How to Vanilla
"Vanillaing" your game — reverting it to a 100% clean and unmodded state — is very straightforward for non-Origin copies of the trilogy. However, once Origin is involved, there is a right way and a wrong way to vanilla. This article will walk you through how to properly vanilla each game in the trilogy. Mass Effect Start by confirming vanilla status via the "Date Modified" of the files in the main Cooked. Assuming direct installation from disk, unmodded base game files will be dated in March, April, or May of 2008. Trilogy Edition/Origin editions of the game may differ. If you have modded files, you may reliably vanilla ME1 via the following methods, in order of preference: This method is by far the fastest, most convenient method, and is strongly encouraged. However, you must be 100% certain you have a completely vanilla unmodded copy. If so, navigate to the ME1 root folder and completely delete these three subfolders: * * * Once the above have been deleted, copy the vanilla ones in to complete the process. If you copied the root folder when originally backing up and prefer to just delete and then restore the game's entire directory, feel free to do that, as well. This method is less optimal than the above. It's more time-consuming and requires you to re-download and/or re-install the patches and DLC for ME1. However, it can be better than an Origin Repair Install if you have slow internet speeds or restricted bandwidth. Proper procedure is identical to uninstalling and re-installing any software in Windows; detailed instructions won't be provided. Mass Effect Trilogy Edition users will be fully vanilla'd after re-install. After installation, navigate to , right-click it, and select Properties. Check the File version on the Details tab. If it isn't 1.2.20608.0, then you'll need to install the v1.02 Patch. If you have Bringing Down the Sky DLC, download it here. Pinnacle Station DLC is no longer available for download for these users. This method is only available if Mass Effect is installed under Origin, either digitally or via the Trilogy Edition. If you have an older physical disk, this option is not available. For details on how to use this option, see the section for Mass Effect 3 below. Mass Effect 2 Start by confirming vanilla status via the "Date Modified" of the files in the main Cooked. Assuming direct installation from disk, unmodded base game files will be dated December 2009. Trilogy Edition/Origin editions of the game may differ. If you have modded files, you may reliably vanilla ME2 via the following methods, in order of preference: As with ME1, this method is by far the fastest, most convenient method, and is strongly encouraged. However, you must be 100% certain you have a completely vanilla unmodded copy. If so, navigate to the ME2 root folder and completely delete these two subfolders: * * Once the above have been deleted, copy the vanilla ones in to complete the process. If you copied the root folder when originally backing up and prefer to just delete and then restore the game's entire directory, feel free to do that, as well. This method is less optimal than the above. It's more time-consuming and requires you to re-download and/or re-install the patches and DLC for ME2. However, it can be better than an Origin Repair Install if you have slow internet speeds or restricted bandwidth. Proper procedure is identical to uninstalling and re-installing any software in Windows; detailed instructions won't be provided. Mass Effect Trilogy Edition and users will be fully vanilla'd after re-install. After installation, navigate to , right-click it and select Properties. Check the File version on the Details tab. If it isn't 1.2.1604.0, then you'll need to install the v1.02 Patch and any DLC by logging into your account on the old BioWare Social Network. This method is only available if Mass Effect 2 is installed under Origin, either digitally or via the Trilogy Edition. If you have an older physical disk, this option is not available. For details on how to use this option, see the section for Mass Effect 3 below. Mass Effect 3 To confirm vanilla status check the "Date Modified" of the files in the main Cooked. Assuming direct installation from disk or Origin, unmodded base game files will be dated prior to 25 April 2012. All DLC SFARs will have a 2012 date, except Citadel DLC which will be dated early 2013. If any of these dates are later, it's a strong indication the file is modded. If you have modded files, you may reliably vanilla ME3 via the following methods, in order of preference: As with ME1/2, this method is by far the fastest, most convenient method, and is strongly encouraged. However, you must be 100% certain you have a completely vanilla unmodded copy. If so, navigate to the ME3 root folder and completely delete these two subfolders: * * Once the above have been deleted, copy the vanilla ones in to complete the process. If you copied the root folder when originally backing up and prefer to just delete and then restore the game's entire directory, feel free to do that, as well. This method is less optimal than the above. It's more time-consuming and requires you to re-download and/or re-install the patches and DLC for ME3. However, it can be better than an Origin Repair Install if you have slow internet speeds or restricted bandwidth. Proper procedure is identical to uninstalling and re-installing any software in Windows; detailed instructions won't be provided. Mass Effect Trilogy Edition and users will be fully vanilla'd after re-install. After installation be sure to use Origin to re-download the Extended Cut DLC and any other DLC you've paid for, then, re-patch the game. The final patch for ME3 is 1.5.5427.124. This can be verified by right-clicking the located in , selecting Properties, and viewing the Details tab. If you delete files Origin will replace them. Convenient, eh? Not always. When using Origin to vanilla, you must delete all modded files PRIOR to the repair. Failing to do so will result in Origin trying to "fix" certain files, which will often result in the files still being modded. This will cause problems when using tools such as Texplorer. Therefore, the rule is: If you aren't 100% certain which files have been modded, then the best strategy is always to delete the game's entire root folder inside . Then do the Repair Install through Origin. Note: Origin's "Uninstall Game" feature will totally remove the game from your PC, which shouldn't be necessary to vanilla. After repairing, double-check that the is at version 1.5.5427.124, using the method outlined above. Also check that all your DLC are in place. If not, re-download through Origin. Category:User Resources Category:Troubleshooting Category:Help